Ill chime in on the oscar fudge in a bit. Just wanted to say IMO Jumanji, Mudbound and Only The Brave are the 3 biggest surprises of the year for me. 3 films that had trailers that left me cold but I ended up enjoying all 3 of them quite a bit. Mudbound is one of my favorite movies of the year and OTB looked like some Peter Berg fudge but it wasn't. Loved the Post. Mom and dad was a drymounting blast. The Villainess has the best opening of any movie released in 2017. Bad Genius was good but not great. 68 kill was the worst movie released in 2017 and I really enjoyed Super Dark Times although the climax didn't quite land for me. I am still not 100% sure how I feel about Sacred Deer.

Finally saw BR2049 and wow...just wow. So upset with myself for missing it in the theaters but at least now I can immediately watch it again. The low end made the sound bar go crazy, so I'm gonna try hooking up my giant stereo speakers and really blow my hair back. Loved it.

Saw Three Billboards on Friday and really liked it. I can understand some of the backlash that's happening, but overall it was way better and more entertaining than I thought it'd be. Didn't even realize it was the In Bruges director, ha. I generally like mean-spirited characters and movies, so it was mostly up my alley. For a minute there (and no spoilers) I thought it was going to go super off the rails and get like non-stop violent. Still plenty violent, I know, but was kinda hoping it'd go bonkers, but that would've been a very different film.

RottenAtom wrote:I'm in the "Get Out is good but overrated and unworthy of these nominations especially Best Picture, Director, and Actor" category. Solid, clever flick but Best Picture? Come on... #OscarsSoProgressive #OscarsOvercompensating #AffirmativeAction (is that last one a bit much? Yeah, probably. But kind of seems that way... this is the flipside to #OscarsSoWhite)

I'm not crazy about the Octavia Spencer nod either. She's a great actress, but she essentially plays the token black side character in that film. Give me Tiffany Haddish in Girls Trip over Octavia and Mary J. Blige (even though the movie wasn't as good, the performance was - she steals every scene she's in.)

Another actor that I like that I don't think deserved a nom was Richard Jenkins. Typical performance from him (and a forgettable character.) In the same category, I don't think Christopher Plummer deserves a nom. Another typical performance. Where is Michael Stuhlberg for Call Me By Your Name? That one scene alone is nomination-worthy. Ray Romano was better than Jenkins and Plummer.

Glad Martin McDonagh didn't get nominated for Director and I wish Peele's nom went to Villeneuve, Speilberg, or Sean Baker (all who are far more deserving, imo).

I like The Post, but can we take the 'give Meryl a nom' autopilot feature off. No way she deserves one.

After another viewing of Three Billboards, I don't care for that movie at all. Frances is good and I'm a Rockwell fan, but that movie is a mess and I think the message is misguided. (SPOILERS- She burns down the police station and it's completely obvious. No way Lester Freamon's letting her off. Also, the end is like the 'Me Too' witch hunt. They're about to possibly go after that guy and they have no evidence(!), just a gut feeling... wtf. Movie sucks.)

The Academy used to not give a damn about people's opinions of the noms/winners and due to the recent backlash (mostly from people who are not cinephiles) it feels like they're going with the popular (or the perceived progressive) choice too often instead of honoring the most deserving. Just give it a few years and one of these Disneyfied Star Wars movies will probably get nominated for Best Picture.

I like Mudbound, but I don't know how I feel about its Cinematography nod. I don't think any Netflix films should be allowed to win that award. I started watching Gangs of New York on Netflix the other day and ended up putting in the DVD for better quality.

I am thrilled that Phantom Thread was shown some love and it's great that Lesley Manville was nominated. Well-deserved. Vicky Krieps should've been nominated too (especially over Meryl).

I'm not crazy about the nominees this year. Super predictable for the most part...

Get Out deserves a nomination in my eyes - it's a solid film that works as a commentary on society as a whole, and most importantly, it resonates with audiences. In my eyes, this is why the Oscars expanded past five Best Picture nominations.

I like Octavia Spencer in Shape of Water, but do wonder why she got in over Haddish. I think Haddish is superb in Girls Trip and her religion helped strengthen a character who was already superb.

As for Jenkins - I thought he was well deserving of a nomination. Harrelson and Rockwell though... not so much. The more I think about Three Billboards, the more I dislike it. I haven't seen Plummer's work yet, but I imagine his nomination is more for not being Spacey.

Three Billboards isn't really a directors film, so I'm glad he didn't get a nomination. Wouldn't have been deserving.

I thought Streep was good in The Post, but I was quite the fan of the film.

I disagree with this sentiment - there's been little to suggest that the 'new lineup' of the Academy is leaning towards Disneyfied films - in fact, quite the opposite. I doubt the old lineup would have rewarded Moonlight, or The Shape of Water, or Get Out, or Lady Bird. The new lineup may appear to be more socially progressive, or in tune with the outrage culture, which in my eyes, wouldn't suggest they'd reward a Star Wars or a Marvel film for Best Picture. Heck... if they were going to nominate a Star Wars film for BP, then The Last Jedi darn well deserved it.

As for Mudbound. I'm glad it got a nomination. Expect to see more 'Netflix' films be nominated in the future. Keep in mind, it did get a short theatrical run and was made with the intention of being shown on the big screen.

Saw Phantom Thread last night and glad it got the nominations it did. Krieps deserved a nomination for sure.

I disagree that they're predictable. They're only predictable because the precursors suggested this would happen. But, in the realm of 'Oscar films', there's only a handful that tick that box.

I had some expectations for that film because it's the same director as Tron: Legacy.

While I thought it was fine, the film's tragedy kinda happens almost accidentally. And while I totally understand that it was based on real events, was kind of expecting that it would have come from a character decision or something.

The shape of water tho I don’t think I’m going to ever get the love for that . Love GDT and I was really excited to see the flick and spent half the movie rolling my eyes/laughing. The love story isn’t even a little believable and it has nothing to do with it being human/amphibian. Hawkins does strong work here but Spencer/Jenkins are just fine in it. I hated almost everything about the movie except Hawkins and the production design. What a drymounting let down